


She's a Keeper

by SpellingErrors



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Champ Hardy Being an Asshole, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hogwarts, Hogwarts AU, Hogwarts Fifth Year, POV Waverly Earp, Quidditch, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Unkillable gay squad, Wayhaught - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-07-09 22:24:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19895329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellingErrors/pseuds/SpellingErrors
Summary: Starting at a new school in your fifth year was no easy task. Especially when the school you're starting at is none other than Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.The decision to switch to Hogwarts to obtain the OWL grades needed to pursue her dream career was one that changed Waverly Earp's life forever. Although, she didn't expect so much of that change to come from quite literally running into the keeper for Gryffindors quidditch team.





	1. Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> If this fic feels familiar, you read way to much Wynonna Earp fanfic. But also I wrote a similar fic on my other account and abandoned it after two chapters. Over a year later I've decided to come back to it and I've rewritten the first two chapters to hopefully improve the content quality and also make some adjustments such as adding in Robin (who makes a far better friend for Waverly than Chrissy Nedley).
> 
> The ages and age gaps of everyone have been changed for plot convenience. Waverly, Nicole, Robin, Jeremy and Champ are 5th year students. Wynonna, Doc, Dolls and Rosita are 7th year students.
> 
> This fic is going to feature a bunch of things that were only mentioned in the books or cut from the movies. It is written assuming you have some knowledge of the canon book content but muggles can still enjoy.

**Sunday, September 1st**

“Anything from the trolley dears?” one of the train staff asked while rapping on the door to the compartment Wynonna and I had secured. 

Her trolley was stacked with boxes of every flavour beans. Liquorice wands and sugar quills sat in jars amongst Honeydukes best-enchanted lollipops. Packets of exploding-bonbons and fizzing-whizzbees spiralled around the display of cauldron cakes.

I asked her for two chocolate frogs. One for me and the other for Wynonna. I passed Wynonna the frog as the lady shut the carriage door. The second that she was out of earshot Wynonna threw the frog straight back at me. Scowling, she said, "Rule number one: Buy nothing from the trolley because in a little under an hour there’s an all-you-can-eat feast that you DON'T have to pay for.”

“Right, I didn’t know.” I sighed. 

There was still a lot for me to learn. Most witches, like Wynonna, come to Hogwarts as soon as they turn eleven. I was sixteen and had spent my whole life a homeschooled student. Today would be my first day at Hogwarts. 

Fifth-year students take their OWLs. I needed those qualifications to keep my career options open. You can’t get those as a homeschooled student, so there I was sitting on the train and waiting for my new life to begin.

I already had a bit more information than most first years would. Earlier, Professor McGonagall had visited the homestead. 

Homeschooled students were rare at Hogwarts. Most magic users under the age of seventeen weren’t allowed to use magic outside of school. McGonagall came to ensure I was good enough to jump straight into fifth-year classes. 

I aced her test, of course. I had studied hard while at home and was more than ready. The part I was not prepared for was when she offered to sort me into my house. She asked if I would prefer to know now or if I would prefer to wait. She also warned that waiting could cause a slight delay in getting my room and timetable sorted.

I’d been dying to know what house I’d get sorted into. I didn’t fancy being sorted with people five years younger than me. Being both older and an Earp I would stick out like a sore thumb. It also seemed like if I got sorted now it would help the school out with organising. I accepted her offer.

As the hat touched my head it was flooded with life. The largest of the dark folds formed a mouth that whispered, “Ahh, another Earp, aye? And a few years late it seems.” 

My eyes flickered shut. The hat may have come to life when it touched my head, but I contrasted it perfectly. I perched on the edge of my stool, barely breathing, knuckles white. Whatever the hat decided for me would change my life. Until this moment going to Hogwarts just felt like a dream but this, this made it real. 

The hat continued in its soft and slow tone, “You do come from a long line of Slytherins indeed. Wyatt, Josiah, Edwin, Ward, Wynonna...” he trailed off, “I was certain about most of them the second I touched their heads but you, you’re different from them... There is more here.”

I tensed as the hat said, “You’ve plenty of courage, that’s for sure.” for something that was reading my thoughts I sure felt it had misread me. Despite trying to play it cool, despite getting sorted alone instead of in front of a crowd, despite not even being at any risk of danger, I was sitting glued to the chair eyes squeezed shut and trying to remember to breathe. 

“Ha! Don’t believe me aye?” the hat started, suddenly raising his voice. “Tell me Ms Earp, If not courage, what trait did you exhibit every time you stood up for Wynonna?” 

The hat had a point. Wynonna and I, our parents didn’t exactly teach us all this magic stuff. They weren’t around so Gus raised us like muggle-borns. Everything changed when Wynonna turned nine. She started making things happen. Sometimes it was moving objects and other times the objects were set on fire. 

Wynonna had no words to explain what was happening to her and everyone called her a freak. Some thought demons were haunting her. I always had her back. No matter how much shit I got for being a part of the freaks dysfunctional family. 

“See,” the hat continued, “You could do well in Gryffindor, but still there is so much potential here. Ravenclaw would foster your talents well. You are one of the most exceptional homeschooled witches I have ever seen.” 

God, I had been so jealous when Wynonna left for Hogwarts. She’s two years older than me so she left me alone with Gus when she was eleven. I thought the magic thing was so cool. I enjoyed feeling special, and I was counting down the days until I would receive my Hogwarts letter.

Of course, that was before everything changed. Gus got sick, I’m talking real, magic can’t fix it and you’re in deep shit, sick. True, I was only eleven at the time but Gus needed me. I couldn’t leave her and go to some magic boarding school when Gus couldn’t even make herself breakfast half the time. 

The school was understanding. They recommended we get someone to tutor me, teach me more about the wizarding world. They also told me that there was always a place for me at Hogwarts, whenever I was ready to accept it.

The tutor we hired, Curtis McCready, quickly became family. I’m talking quite literally because well, Gus ended up marrying him. Curtis always believed in me. He taught me almost everything I know from transfiguration and identifying ancient runes to well... growing tomatoes. Herbology for muggles, he called it. 

I don’t think I would be here today if it wasn’t for him. Not only for inspiring me to love to learn but also because after Gus made a full recovery last year he pushed me to come to Hogwarts to complete my OWLs. “Talent like yours should not go to waste,” he told me, “go out there, work hard and get the qualifications that you need.” He always believed I was destined to do more than help around the farm.

I only realised how much I had trailed off when the hat started talking again. “Oh, but of course, it always seems to come back to one thing with you. Yes, you’re loyal, hard-working and honest. You stayed behind because you cared about Gus. You stayed loyal to Wynonna and comforted her when she most needed it. You, Waverly Earp, are caring and strong. Hufflepuff will be glad to have you.”

So that’s how I became the first Earp, in history, to be sorted into Hufflepuff. Wynonna was in Slytherin. She elected to sit on the train with me instead of her house friends mostly on account of it being my first day but largely because Doc had just started snogging Rosita and she would rather, quote, “shave her legs with a chainsaw,” than third-wheel that couple. 

I was staring out the window but my mind had long drifted from the scenery, I was finally doing it. Starting at a new school wasn’t an easy thing. Especially when the school you’re starting at is none other than Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Daily Prophet never seemed to have a shortage of Hogwarts related horror stories to publish. From “Chaos in the Care of Magical Creatures Class” to “Student Hexed in Hallway” the school seemed to have a very full hospital wing.

I’d thought about sending an owl, a few times in a panic, saying I’d decided not to come after all. But Gus reassured me that she was fine without me and I needed to get my OWLs to take my future where I wanted it to go. What better place to do that than at Hogwarts itself.

Wynonna came closer to me when the castle came into view, “Pretty cool huh?” she said noticing the way my eyes lit up at the sight of the old stone walls. The castle was magnificent and sure I knew what it looked like from photos, but seeing it right in front of me was breathtaking. 

I’d wanted to come here for such a long time and let's just say that the thought of being the new girl, or the only fifth-year that didn’t know the ropes yet, was terrifying. I didn’t want to draw much attention to myself. Coming to Hogwarts was all that I had ever wanted, but I was terrified. I guess most of that fear came from not wanting to screw things up. 

“Ready, baby girl?” Wynonna asked as the train came to a stop. I nodded as we hurried off the train. 

Everyone above second year rides in carriages drawn by Thestrals to the castle. Wynonna had promised Dolls she would sit with her friends for this part so I hurried to get into a cart and avoid that awkward, “Hey, mind if I sit here?” conversation. 

Unfortunately, four second-year boys from Slytherin clambered into the cart. I sighed figuring I wouldn’t be making any new friends here. The politer of the four, a boy with jet black hair asked me who I was and all their faces lit up when I told them I was an Earp.

“How come we didn’t see you around last year? All the Earps have been Slytherins for the past… well since forever!”

Apparently, tales of Wynonna spread like wildfire in the Slytherin common rooms. She had made a name for herself during her stay. She’d occasionally send me an owl detailing exactly what she had done to the bathroom to get Filch this mad at her. While some stuff was hilarious, other things like slipping a love potion into her teacher's drink made me wonder if I could even take potions without needing to hide from the teacher. In fact, given the amount of trouble Wynonna seemed to be in she may have single-handedly lost Slytherin the house cup.

“It’s actually my first year,” I explained to the boys, “and I’m kinda in Hufflepuff.”

The cart suddenly filled with laughter. Three of the boys were acting as if I was an award-winning stand-up comedian. The boy with the jet black hair just offered me a weak smile. He may have been Slytherin, but that doesn’t mean he had to be an asshole like his friends.

The blonde boy taunted, “No way is an Earp in Hufflepuff, Your family must be ashamed.” I just shrugged the comment off, but I didn’t speak to the boys for the rest of the ride. Okay, true Hufflepuff hadn’t won the house cup in a while, or even the quidditch cup, but that did not make them a weak house.

Before I knew it I was being ushered into the great hall and damn, it was a sight. I’d read about the floating candles and the night sky in “Hogwarts, a History”. Nothing could prepare me for seeing it the first time. It seemed unusual to me the way the other students weren’t as awestruck, but I guess if you watch the sunset every night it becomes 6 pm. Still how fantastically odd was it that this would be my every day. 

I headed over to the Hufflepuff table. Not to stereotype, but I figured that most of the people here would be friendly. I walked over to the edge of the table that hadn’t filled up yet and asked the boy on the end if I could sit next to him. "Do you mind if I sit here? I’m kinda new to Hogwarts and don’t know anyone but I’ve already been sorted and all that." I was rambling but it was a nervous habit.

“Of course,” the guy replied, “I’m Robin. If it’s your first time here you have got to try the treacle tart. That being said no one can cook potatoes like Hogwarts house-elves.”

By the time the feast had ended Robin and I were thick as thieves. He introduced me to his best friend, Jeremy, the guy was crazy smart. I said I was surprised that he wasn’t put in Ravenclaw too which he replied “Honestly, me too. It’s crazy. Way back in the first year, when I got my wand I was certain I’d be sorted into Ravenclaw. My wand is Walnut you see. It was Olivander himself that said, ‘Highly intelligent witches and wizards ought to be offered a walnut wand for trial first, because in nine cases out of ten, the two will find in each other their ideal mate.’ I figured that if my wand’s choice was so connected to my intellect the hat’s choice would be too, but I guess that wasn’t the case. Anyway, five years later I couldn’t think of a house I’d rather be in. Without being in Hufflepuff I never would have gotten to know this guy” he said slapping Robin on the back.

Soon timetables were being passed around. I compared mine to Robin and Jeremy’s. I had: 

Monday  
Period 1- Potions  
Period 2- Defense Against The Dark Arts  
Period 3- Study of Ancient Runes  
Period 4- History of Magic  
Period 5- Herbology  
Period 6- Transfiguration

Tuesday  
Period 1- Care of Magical Creatures  
Period 2- Study of Ancient Runes  
Period 3- Study of Ancient Runes  
Period 4- Charms  
Period 5- Free Period  
Period 6- Astronomy (with Ravenclaw)

Wednesday  
Period 1- Free Period  
Period 2- Herbology  
Period 3- Defense Against the Dark Arts  
Period 4- History of Magic  
Period 5- Potions (with Slytherin)  
Period 6- Astronomy

Thursday  
Period 1- Herbology  
Period 2- History of Magic  
Period 3- Charms  
Period 4- Care of Magical Creatures (with Gryffindor)  
Period 5- Care of Magical Creatures (with Gryffindor)  
Period 6- Astronomy

Friday  
Period 1- Transfiguration  
Period 2- Transfiguration  
Period 3- Potions  
Period 4- Defense Against the Dark Arts  
Period 5- Charms (with Gryffindor)  
Period 6- Free Period

All fifth-year students were required to take Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology. Luckily in each one of those classes, I had either Jeremy, Robin or both of them. 

For my two elective subjects, I had chosen Care of Magical Creatures and the Study of Ancient Ruins. I had Jermey in Ancient Ruins as well but I hadn't met anyone who was taking Care of Magical Creatures.

When the feast ended the house prefects lead us to our common rooms. We were walking down the kitchen corridor when they suddenly stopped. 

“Okay everybody, listen up, To enter the common room you have to tap this barrel to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff. That’s tap tap tap-tap-tap, all right? If you get it wrong you’ll be doused in vinegar and that stuff doesn’t smell very good ok? Let's go in. Everyone watch your heads.”

Everyone was crawling through into the common room on their hands and knees. It took quite a while to get all the students through as only one person could fit at a time. I heard some prefects telling the students about the time someone tried to use an Engorgement Charm on the barrel. It didn’t go very well.

The Hufflepuff Basement was beautiful. It had a round and earthy low-ceiling and its circular windows had a view of rippling grass and dandelions. I couldn’t quite tell if the view was real or enchanted. There were so many fascinating plants. Some were sitting on windowsills and others were hanging from the ceiling. Some of which appeared to be talking and singing. A prefect yelled, “Don’t touch the purple plant, you may break out in hives.”

I sat on a large overstuffed yellow and black chair by the fire and continued listening to the prefects rambling.

“There’s a girls dormitory through this door and boys through the other. There’s a nonbinary dormitory too just to the left. We no longer have the doors enchanted to stop people of other genders from entering so don’t be caught in the wrong one.”

I could get used to this, sitting by the fire in such a lovely room. The earthy smell swept all my worries away, Hogwarts was starting to feel like home. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nicole and Waverly will be meeting in the next chapter. I had tried to move it up but I really wanted to focus on setting up the story in this chapter. To make up for the lack of wayhaught content I'll be posting the second chapter tomorrow and hopefully the third soon after.
> 
> As always thank you to every single person who comments or leaves a kudos. You all mean a lot to me.
> 
> Feel free to leave any suggestions/grammar fixes or chapter prompts in the comments as well.


	2. Peeves and the Paintings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left a comment or kudos on the last chapter. Hopefully you enjoy this one just as much. 
> 
> Chapter three will be out later this week. 
> 
> Leave a comment letting me know how much you would like to see of Robin and Jeremy's relationship in between all the wayhaught moments.

**Monday, September 2nd**

When Robin mentioned how good the potatoes were last night, he did not mention that they are even better in hash brown form for the morning feast. 

The food at Hogwarts was totally amazeballs. Okay maybe I miss Gus’s famous Nutella and banana pancakes, but I could completely get used to this. Except for the pumpkin juice. It did taste a lot more like cinnamon than pumpkin but it took everything I had not to spit it out all over Jeremy’s face when he suggested I try some. 

I was enjoying a slice of toast when Robin grabbed my arm whispering, “That blonde girl, is she coming over here?” 

I peered over his shoulder to see a girl, headed straight for us. Jeremy sighed, “Chrissy Nedley, Just wait until you see this, she’s had a crush on Robin for ages. You know one time she-” Jermey began before Robin stood up and cut him off. “Yeah, none of you are getting that satisfaction, I’m going to go talk to her. She’s probably just looking for friends in her classes anyways.”

He walked over and greeted her with a hug. As soon as he was out of earshot, I asked Jeremy what their deal was. 

“Wow, I do not want to know,” he replied, snatching more food from the table, “I’m hoping that if they were going to get together... they would have done it by now.”

“What, are you jealous she’s going to steal your friend?”

“Yeah, my friend.” His tone felt off. So I figured a subject change was in order. As Robin left the Great Hall with Chrissy, Jeremy told me his thoughts on our potions teacher.

Potions was the first class today. I shared it with both Jeremy and Robin. I didn’t have any double periods or free periods today which meant that I would be trying six of my eight subjects. There was quite a lot of work packed into one day so before I knew it we were leaving the great hall to head to our first class.

We got part way there when I realised that I hadn’t been carrying the correct textbook with me. Jeremy went to class as save seats for myself and Robin while I doubled back to grab the book. 

I made it to the common room just fine and started hurrying back towards the dungeons. Fewer and fewer people were loitering in the halls as classes were about to start. There was no way in hell that I was going to be late to my first class on my first day. 

One moment I was rushing forward taking two steps at a time up a maze of staircases and the next I was lurching forward trying to regain my balance. There had been a gap in the step, I’d totally missed it and caught my foot upon it. At first, I was grateful that there was no one around to see me stumble... but one look down at the pit of spiralling stairs and I was grateful that I hadn’t dropped my textbook. It's a long way down had to fetch it, or worse fall myself. That would be a sure-fire way to end up in the hospital wing.

My shoe was wedged in the gap in the step. As I was pulling it out, there was another lurch but this time the staircase began to move. “No no no no,” I thought. Jeremy had given me clear enough instructions on how to get to the class on time... assuming that the stairs would face the same direction and lead to the same floor.

The stair was turning slowly, too slowly. I was chanting, “go go go go go” until we connected to another landing with a dull thud. 

I spun around searching for any stairs that would lead me to the correct floor but I couldn’t find any. “Shit,” I said aloud. I was about to go into full panic mode when I saw another student turning the corner way out in the distance. He was holding a cauldron so maybe if I followed him I’d end up near enough to the dungeons to find my class.

I bolted after him. The pounding noise of my shoes echoed off the cold stone walls. The clanging sounded almost as loud as my nervous heartbeat felt.

I turned one corner, then another, I was gaining on him and determined not to let him out of my sight. I was going too fast. I couldn’t stop in time. 

There’s a fleeting moment between action and consequences of the action. It's when you can see everything that’s about to happen right in front of you. I saw her red hair and long robes. I saw her eyes widen in fright as a barrelled towards her. And right before we collided, I could already feel my cheeks begin to get hot with embarrassment. 

When I say the impact was awful, I mean it. It seemed almost as if I was in some horrible and terribly cliche fanfic. The papers she had been holding flew out of her hand and blanketed the hall. Her wand spun through the air and clattered against the wall. Worst of all, I’d completely knocked her right to the floor. 

I immediately dropped to my knees and started picking up her books and papers saying “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” 

Blushing would have been fine, but I went redder than Curtis’s most prized tomato. I could have matched her hair. Way to start your first day Waves, I thought, I knew this memory would be seared into my brain forever.

I kept my head low to the ground, an attempt to hide my face from her. I’d always remember her face but perhaps she could forget mine. When she recovered from the fall she started picking up her papers as I did saying “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

She crawled towards some papers that had flown further away and that’s when I saw it. A small shiny badge pinned to her chest. Gryffindor prefect. Just perfect.

I started rambling, “I’m so sorry, are you okay? I didn’t want to be late for class and I was chasing--”. She cut me off saying, “Seriously, it’s fine.” She looked over to me and offered me a warm smile. Shit, she looked nowhere near as flustered as I did. Maybe she was blushing a bit but I couldn’t find any trace of embarrassment or frustration in that smile.

I went back to gathering her papers. I was trying to think of something to say when a loud voice from above us. A ghost mocking the tone of a whiny toddler yelled, “OOOooooOOHH". I looked up and recognised the ghost as Peeves the poltergeist. Hogwarts a History did not have the nicest things to say about Peeves.

“Tsk Tsk Tsk,” he said floating down towards us, “Haughtypants has found herself a gurlfriend.” I assumed he was addressing the girl because her face was as red as mine had been. She tried to keep cool but I could see how tight her jaw was as she said, “Leave us alone Peeves. You know I can call for the bloody baron.”

He let out an exaggerated cry wailing, “No not the baron whatever will I do?” but ‘Haughtypants’ elected to ignore him. She instead extended a hand to me, “I’m Nicole by the way, Nicole Haught.”

I took her hand. “Waverly Earp” I replied, sounding a little unsure. I guess I figured once she knew my name she would know me and I was kind of hoping she would forget who I was.

Peeves clapped his hands together in childish glee. He began to sing “Awww, Haughtypants and Waverly, The romance of the century.” over and over. 

We both chose to ignore him as he continued to sing his song and dance his dance. We were picking up papers faster than ever desperate for it to be over. Nicole apologised to me on behalf of Peeves as I handed her the final papers. I was ready to bolt but Peeves had other plans. 

The ghost didn’t take being ignored by us well. True, he had embarrassed us awfully, but he wasn’t done. Before we could react, he threw himself at Nicole's stack, flying right through all the papers with a gush of wind that scattered them to the floor once more. We were back at square one and both dropped to our knees again. “Oopsies,” was all he had to say as he raised his hand to his mouth and acted shocked. 

There was no one else in the hallway but I heard another voice yell, “What is the meaning of this you scurvy braggart.” It came from one of the paintings on the wall. It featured none other than Sir Cadogan, a wizard and sworn Knight of the Round Table. 

Nicole asked him to go back to the divination corridor, but it was already too late. Nicole and I may not have been reacting to Peeves, but he had just found his audience. 

Upping his dramatization tenfold Peeves announced, “These two saw each other across the hallway, it was love at first sight. Waverpee here flung herself right into Haughtypantsies arms and the rest will go down in history as the greatest love story ever told.”

He was booming - trying to gain the attention of as many paintings as he could. In this hallway, there were a lot of them. I tensed up at his words, I did not ‘fling myself’ into her arms it was a totally mortifying accident.

“Oh but you two shall become the most fierce of companions!” The knight cried, “Quick everyone come here, we must support these young teens on their quest to find eternal love.”

I didn’t want to look up to see how many of the paintings were now listening and watching everything unfold. I was just focusing on picking up paper after paper. As the knight went on Nicole said, “That’s Sir Cadogan, I’m assuming you haven’t met. He’s kinda mental,” through gritted teeth.

The other paintings started to join in and contribute to the fuss. All their words blurred into one. I could never make out full sentences over the cries of “so perfect for” and “met my Martha in these halls,”. It seemed ever Sir Cadogan's horse whinnied in approval.

Peeves was yelling, “It was fate, the stars have aligned for them, Why Waverly would have just passed Nicole on the way to class had the staircase not moved and set her off on a new journey." As I collected the last of the papers. I handed them to her saying," I’m so sorry if I’ve made you late.” My face was contorted something awful. There was no way she couldn’t see the cringe in my smile. God, I was so embarrassed. 

When she took the papers back, she held onto them with an iron fist saying, "It’s fine". I could see from her body language that the painting’s had gotten to her and it wasn’t fine.

I asked her if she knew the way to dungeon three. She replied “Of course, It's down that corridor you go down third right, down the staircase, and then third left. I’ll uh- see you around.” Then she was gone, hurrying off to her class at the quickest pace she could (without bowling over another student, I guessed).

“Thank you,” I yelled back at her hurrying down the corridor. I was trying to block out the cries of “Haughtypants and Waverpee in luuurve in luuuurve.”

I silently prayed that I would never see Haughtypants — or Peeves for that matter — again. 

The rest of my day went smoothly. I wish the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher hadn’t singled me out as the new kid though. That meant introducing myself as an Earp. It wasn’t so bad. I heard a few whispers of Slytherin but nothing like what happened in the Thestral carts. The other Hufflepuffs could see the strength in their house.

After DADA, I had Study of Ancient Runes. Let’s just say that it was not a popular elective, from what I’d heard, most students chose Divination or Care of Magical Creatures. The class was almost empty.

Nothing eventful happened in History of Magic... Then again when did anything eventful happen during history of magic? One would think learning about a war fought between wizards and giants would be interesting. Professor Binns (our ghost teacher) seemed to have a way with words that made taking the subject tedious and painful. 

I’d enjoyed Study of Ancient Runes, but my favourite class for the day had to be Herbology. The teacher had a bit of a bias towards Hufflepuffs. She turned up to the class late (mumbling something about a teething Venomous Tentacula) but quickly made up for it. 

The greenhouse’s tables were lined with rows of Chinese Chomping Cabbages. Let's just say these were way cooler than the magic plants we were allowed to plant in our backyard. Professor Sprout warned us not to go sticking anything too close to any plant’s mouths before saying, “We have a brand new Student in our class today, Waverly.” I felt a little guilty that I was glad she skipped my last name. She didn’t ask me to introduce myself, but she did say, “Perhaps you will lead our house to victory this year?” before segueing Quidditch into the conversation. 

“Anyone here planning on trying out for a Quidditch team this year?” she asked. “We lost quite a few players last year and perhaps we will be getting a few new strong players coming through?”

A few relatively shy hands were raised. “Well, best of luck to all of you. The trials will be held next week because the new captain wants to get you all trained early before the season begins. Our first match will be against Gryffindor the previous champions, but you didn’t hear that from me,” she said winking.

I had always been a massive quidditch fan. I’d never participated in an actual game before but I had a love for the game. When Wynonna first left to go to Hogwarts, I was super jealous that I couldn’t do any magic. Curtis made my world more magical by casting a disillusionment charm on my Cleansweep Seven so I could fly around. Technically it may have broken a few rules, but it birthed my love for all things quidditch. 

I’m a diehard fan of the Wimbourne Wasps (we call ourselves stingers). I’d watched the broadcast of practically every wasp game. But it was the prospect of watching quidditch matches live excited me. Even if it was just school quidditch…

I wasn’t going to sign up this year. Mostly because my game experience was pretty much me flying above Curtis, chasing whatever ball he was levitating until he let me catch it. I hadn’t ruled out the possibility of trying out for the team in later years. I needed to play a few more casual games first.

We got given our first and only homework assignment for the day in Herbology. We were to write a single page essay on the behaviours and properties of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage. I couldn’t help but laugh when Robin nudged me and said: “Hey, do you think she’ll mind If I tell her the cabbage ate my homework?”

I had one last class to attend. The sixth period was held late in the evening. Most of the time, this was when astronomy classes were held, but today I had transfiguration. We didn’t do much in the class, given that it was late on the first day. McGonagall just briefly went over the curriculum before leaving us to revise or socialise. She warned us that we would have to put in the effort if we wanted to score good enough OWLs to continue with the course.

I took the time to tell Robin about what had happened this morning with Nicole. Running off with Chrissy seemed like a far better way to spend the morning than running into Nicole. 

As the period came to an end we all started to head back to the Hufflepuff common rooms. I took the same seat as yesterday, the one by the fire and started to work on my essay. I had decided that I would wait until tomorrow night before writing a letter to Gus. That way I could talk about all my subjects, instead of only the six I tried today. 

Before I knew it I was heading back towards my patchwork covered four-poster bed. All things considered, I’d have to say this was a pretty good start to a life-changing year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment what positions (and houses) you'd like to see some of the revenants or other side characters playing for. There's a bunch of Quidditch coming up soon. (Wynonna is going to be announcing the games so that might be a nightmare... she'll make Lee Jordan proud)
> 
> Next chapter will be out later on this week.
> 
> I appreciate every single kudos and comment you guys leave. Feel free to leave suggestions/feedback/chapter prompts or general grammar fixes.


	3. Sevens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CRAP GUYS, I THOUGHT I UPLOADED THIS CHAPTER A WHOLE WEEK AGO. I’LL POST ANOTHER CHAPTER TOMORROW TO MAKE UP FOR IT AH.
> 
> Sorry, this chapters kinda long...
> 
> There are three new Revenants in this chapter. Fish and Levi, who were very minor characters from season one. If you don’t remember Fish he appears in Season 1 Episode 5 and fell in love with Levi (the revenant Doc had to drag over the border who was mostly in the shadow assassin episode). In the episode Fish bargains with Wynonna saying that he can give her a photo of the seven if she reunites him with Levi. Anyways my justification for putting him in Hufflepuff is his immense loyalty towards Levi and the fact that most of his actions were nonviolent. I haven’t decided what house to put Levi in, comment your thoughts if you’d like.
> 
> The other Revenant is Red. He is the one who bit off a ladies fingers in season one. The iconic “CRAZY BITCH WITH A GUN” scene. He is seen with Levi a bit which is why I brought him in but he won’t be coming up as much as Fish and Levi because I am biased and all for the gays.
> 
> I’m kind of struggling to put the revenants in Houses because stereotypically you would put everyone in Slytherin cause JK Rowling always treated Slytherin as the “evil” house and the revenants are the ‘bad guys’. But IDK I’m not a fan of doing that because some revenants were probably victims of circumstance.
> 
> Bobo, for example, is a very Slytherin character he is ambitious, cunning, an achievement-oriented strong leader. However before he went to hell, he sacrificed his life to stop Clootie's demonic reign over Purgatory. So the question is if Bobo was sorted based on the traits he valued when he was eleven would he have been put in Gryffindor? Was the only reason the Slytherin traits in him came out because of how he went to hell and back. Who knows? I’ve sorted him into Slytherin anyways because I prefer his post-hell personality.
> 
> Point is, I do not believe Fish would have been the type to hold a gun to Wynonna’s head and attempt to kidnap her if he hadn’t been impacted by the curse which is why I put him in Hufflepuff. The question is where do the other revenants belong because it shouldn’t always be Slytherin. I literally have no idea what to do with Levi.

Tuesday September 3rd

I had Care of Magical Creatures for the first time today. It was a fun class but I guess I didn’t really find anyone I felt I fit in with. I sat next to some nice girls and chatted with them… but I didn’t really find a person to forge a friendship with. Everyone already had established social circles and groups so I spent most of the lesson focusing on the content rather than finding people to make friends with. 

The class wasn’t taught in a classroom and it wasn’t taken by a normal teacher either. Rubeus Hagrid, our half-giant teacher had the entire class being taught on the outskirts of the forbidden forest. 

The forest itself didn’t look as threatening as I expected. There was something about basking in the sun that broke through the canopy that made me feel at ease. The tree roots were thick and old and the roots all twisted. Hagrid assured us we could find plenty of magical creatures among the bark and leaves if only we knew where to look. 

The class was over faster than I would have liked and I headed to the castle for double Ancient Runes with Jeremy and then the two of us caught up with Robin for Charms.

Robin spent most of charms talking about Quidditch. I didn’t know he was so into Quidditch. Apparently last year he had played for Hufflepuff as a chaser but this year he wanted to try out for seeker. I’d heard that the previous seeker for Hufflepuff had finished school last year and it was leading to several openings in the team. I just had no idea that Robin was so invested in Quidditch.

Turns out that when Professor Sprout mentioned that the trials would be on Wednesday, he’d hadn’t been listening and now that the trials for Hufflepuff were tomorrow he was stressing out. 

“You know, originally the snitch was a flying bird and every player on every team had to try to catch it. There was a 150 galleon reward for whoever did. But quickly all the players ignored the rest of the game and focused on the bird so the rules were changed. That’s how quidditch ended up with only one seeker — one spot.”

Robin was obviously a good player. He’d made the Quidditch team last year which meant that he was already amongst the best in the house and had the hands-on game experience that I didn’t. He even told me he had a Thunderbolt VII. They are supposed to be one of the fastest brooms ever but you had to have skill to ride them. Most experts agreed that they sacrificed safety for speed, so you had to be a confident player to use one.

“I’ve got a free period next period,” Robin began, “Fish, one of last years beaters, said he would bring his balls and help me practise.”

I couldn’t help but cringe. Wynonna had drilled it into me I couldn’t hear a sentence with balls in it without expecting some kind of dick joke. Robin noticed me cringing and looked at me somewhat expectantly before it clicked and he said, “Oh my god Waves, you are so immature. Just because he’s gay--” 

I cut him off. “Wait, he’s gay?” and Robin replied, “The entire school knows that he’s gay. He’s been dating Levi forever.”

“Well I didn’t know I’ve only been here for two days and okay, yes, I was definitely being immature but that has nothing to do with Fish’s sexuality. I think the over-sexualisation of queer people is gross.” 

Robin looked like he would cut me off, but I just kept going saying, “You know, it’s amazing how people think that the second you identify as something other than straight it’s okay to ask for explicit details about your sex life. I hate how young kids are told that they can’t be gay and don’t know what they are talking about because they are too young for sex and people instantly assume that sexuality is equal to sex and it really irks me that aces and aros are often excluded by the LGBT community because it’s becoming so stupidly sexualised that people feel they can’t belong.” 

It was at the point I figured I was rambling so I slowed down and finished with, “Yes, I was being immature adding the awful sexual innuendo but that’s not because Fish is gay.” 

I probably shouldn’t have ranted so much but at least Robin wasn’t like one of the assholes as my last school that would have said something like “Geez Waves. Are you sure YOU’RE not gay?” 

I guess I just wanted to make it very clear where I stood on the matter, I guess I may have been slightly offended that he would even think I was thinking about Fish in such a way. 

Robin continued, “Well, as I was saying. The only time Fish can practice is next during our free period, and Jeremy will still be in his Dark Arts class, so I’m going to have to ditch you but you’re welcome to watch.”

I asked him if I could play and he asked if I could keep up. We were talking the talk, but I knew there was no way I could walk the walk. Robin thought it wouldn’t be a distraction to him if I couldn’t play very well. The more players on the field the more realistic the practise would be and the harder it would be for him to catch the snitch, so he assured me that my presence would be helpful. 

We didn’t get that much work down in charms, but I figured we had all year to catch up. Before I knew it we were heading over towards the quidditch pitch to meet Fish. 

“Dang Robin, Who’s your girl?” he yelled out when he saw us. 

Robin chuckled, “Well she’s her own girl, but this is Waverly Earp and you better watch out she’s a Wimbourne Wasps fan.” 

“That’s her loss, there ain’t no other team as good as the Appleby Arrows,” Fish replied while pulling Robin into a tight hug, “So what’s your game plan, Rob?”

“I was thinking you and I could both practise chasing and catching the snitch while Waverly just flies around adding a little more competitiveness.”

“Come now that’s no fun for her. I’ll bring down four more players and we’ll have us a game of sevens. I won’t be long. Y’all warm up.”

There were seven players on a quidditch team. Normally it was one keeper, one seeker, three chasers and two beaters. However, when teams wanted to play each other in training, they would play a game called Sevens, where each team had a seeker and two chasers. The keeper didn’t play for either team.

The keeper would stay by one set of goalposts but the people that could score in then would frequently change. Every time the quaffle’s position switched from one team to the other the chasers would have to fly it over a line in the middle before returning to the goalposts for the goal to count for their team. This made the game slightly closer to playing real quidditch because you couldn’t catch a rebound and immediately score, you still had to fly the ball to the middle of the field before returning to the goalposts. 

Normally the best chaser on the team would play the second seeker. The two beaters would play chasers for opposite teams and the other members would all remain in their common position. It was this game that made Robin realise his love for seeking as he frequently got switched into the second seeker position.

When Fish came back down from the castle, he only had three people with him. He introduced them one by one. Firstly his boyfriend, Levi. Second, a guy named Red who kinda gave me the creeps. And third, Doc Holliday, who Fish said was only there to look pretty and assured me would be no competition at all. I’d heard his name around he was one of Wynonna’s friends and also the fastest dueler in the school. Too bad his skills did not carry over to quidditch. 

The second Doc Holliday got on his broom you could see how uneased he was. His knuckles were white from gripping the handle and he was flying so slowly that there was no risk of his hat flying off. He didn’t want us to notice how uneasy flying made him but it was super obvious. 

We all did a couple of warm-up laps. Apparently Fish had grabbed people from their classes. The last player was just finishing clearing up a cauldron and then we could start. 

I’d had no idea how he had convinced so many players to come out of class but it turns out that Doc was a prefect so he had no trouble getting out of class, and both Levi and Red had Herbology and Professor Sprout was more than willing to bend a few rules to help a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. 

“All right,” Fish said getting everyone’s attention, "I’ve squared out the teams based on experience. Team one’ll be Robin as the seeker and Waverly and Levi as the chasers. Team two’ll be myself seeking with Doc and Red chasing. Should be fair. Y'all can take some time to talk team strategy if you’d like.”

Robin called Levi and I over. “All right you guys,” he said, “I will purely focus on the snitch but the other people here are more interested in the full game. Keep the Quaffle in your possession as much as you can and only shoot when you’re certain the Keeper will not pass it into the hands of the other team. If they get 15 goals ahead, I won’t be able to catch the snitch which kind of defeats the purpose.”

We both agreed to play his more defensive strategy. I asked him if the keeper was any good or just an average Joe. He yelled out to Fish, “Hey, who did you get to play the keeper?” and Fish yelled back “Nicole Haught!”

I felt all the colour drain from my face.

Oh my god, could he not have picked anyone but her? I thought as I asked Robin if she was good. “Oooh yeah,” he replied, “She’s one of the best Keeper’s Gryffindor has ever seen. A lot of people credit her as a large part of the reason Gryfindor won the cup last year.” 

Shit. There was no way I would be able to score a point against her. I didn’t stand a chance. There was no way she would not remember me either. Oh my god, her only memories of me will be of me making a fool out of myself in front of her. There is no way I can impress her. 

If I was being honest with myself another massive part of why I decided not to trial for Hufflepuff’s team was because I didn’t want the pressure of everyone judging me at the games. The stands would always be almost full of students and teachers. Many students carried binoculars and there was an announcer ready to point out your every mistake. That level of judgement sounded like a nightmare.

I would have taken all of that judgment any day over judgement from Nicole Haught in a game of Sevens.

I could see her coming from the vantage point on my broom. That red hair was unmistakable. It looked like she was carrying a firebolt too. I was completely and utterly done for. 

I think Robin noticed how displeased I was to hear that ‘Haughtypants would be playing, but he ignored it to work on his training. I couldn’t blame him, I told him what had happened but for him, it probably was just a good laugh.

There was no way I explained it as it happened. There was no way I could have possibly explained how embarrassed and freaked out I was compared to her calm and friendly smile. There was no way to explain how she had looked at me. Of course, that was until Peeves showed up and made everything so much worse and we both left equally embarrassed. 

I knew that I wanted to impress her and I also knew that she would want to use this game to impress me. The only difference was that she would always impress me and I would always look like an embarrassment next to her. 

I didn’t want her to think of me as the super klutz who can’t play Quidditch. I wanted to be more than that. 

She was flying up towards us now and yep, that was definitely a Firebolt. 

“Hey,” Fish yelled, “Glad to see you could come out.”

“Trust me, I’d take Quidditch over double potions any day,” she said joining the circle of brooms hovering in the centre of the field.

“Teams are Doc, Red and myself against Levi, Robin and Waverly,” Fish said pointing at me, “she’s a new girl. It’s her second day at Hogwarts.”

“Oh, we’ve met,” Nicole said smirking at me. I silently prayed that my face wasn’t as red as it felt. “I didn’t know it was your first day though. That explains why you were so eager to get to potions. Give it a few months and you’ll be ditching potions to come play Quidditch too.”

“I thought you were a prefect!” I replied. 

“Prefect not perfect,” she said with that smirk once again. “You guys ready to start?”

Nicole was wearing shoulder and chest pads over top of her red and black quidditch robes. She had tight, black, fingerless gloves on her hands and wore long boots that came right up to her knees. They looked like a very professional grade quidditch boot. I could tell that there were made for the keeper position because the top of the boot ended in a knee pad type shield to provide extra protection. Right, where her chest pads ended I could see the number six on her uniform. 

As she pulled a helmet over her hair, leaving only a few wisps of red visible, I couldn’t help but feel inferior. I wasn’t on a quidditch team so I was just wearing the standard school uniform with some gloves I borrowed from Robin. It was nothing compared to the beautiful deep reds and yellows she was wearing. 

Her immaculate firebolt and stunning gear made me even more nervous than I already was. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and knew that I was about to make a total fool of myself. Levi, Doc and Red didn’t have fancy uniforms on either but the thought didn’t make me feel any better.

As per the rules of Sevens the keeper and a chaser for each team would meet halfway between the middle of the field and the goalposts. The keeper would stand with their back to the goal post and toss the ball straight into the air. The chasers would fly in from way out on the sidelines to the left and right to try to grab it and take it back over the halfway line while the keeper flew into position at the goals.

Red figured that he would be the man for the job seems as Doc seemed too afraid to take a single hand off the broom and Levi volunteered me to do the catch for the first round, saying he would do it next. 

I clasped my broom tightly and tried to breathe in and out slowly. Worst-case scenario, I flew right into Nicole knocking her off her firebolt. I figured it was unrealistic. Levi released the snitch, and the game began. 

I saw it as if in slow motion. Nicole released the quaffle, and it cut through the air twisting until it reached the top of its arc and came plummeting back down. Red was already on the move his broom angled down. I copied him, hurtling towards the ground to intercept the falling quaffle. He had more momentum than me and was ever so slightly closer to catching it. I was flying straight towards him. We were almost close enough to crash. If one of us didn’t pull up we would crash. 

He had his arms out ready to grab the Quaffle and I knew it was too late for me. I wasn’t going to be able to catch the quaffle without hitting him. His small lack of hesitation at the start was enough for him to get ahead of me. I pulled up out of the way. I guess I didn’t fancy smashing into another redhead. 

I returned to the height of the other players, only to see Nicole still watching what had happened below instead of hurrying off the goalposts. She gave me another one of those smiles and I had no idea how to read it. Was she pitying me? Smiling because she realised how easy this would be? Maybe she was just amused that I nearly smashed into Red. 

When I got within earshot she yelled, “Better luck next time,” and shot off towards the goalposts.

I had no idea what to think of that. Had she just stayed to watch the catch so she could taunt me? Or was she being genuine? The keeper didn’t have a side, so it’s not like she was supporting a teammate. Either way, I did not need her luck. I didn’t know what her game was, but I worked out mine. I was going to beat or impress her whatever it took, just in case she was pitying me. I had to show her I was more than that. 

I had to think about strategy. Doc, no offence to him, kind of sucked. So I could fairly confidently rule out the possibility of Red passing to him. It was likely that Red would try to go straight for the goal himself and I didn’t know how good his aim was. It was obvious what I’d have to do. I’d have to make him pass. 

Red had passed the midway point and was now flying towards the goal. He was below the posts so if he wanted to get in a position to score I figured he would have to increase his altitude. I wasn’t aiming to hit him, blatching is a foul, but I barreled away from the posts and straight towards him, aiming slightly above his head. 

When he saw me coming, he was almost certain we would crash, and he rotated his broom so he was flying upside down. The move was called a sloth grip roll, and it was usually used to avoid bludgers, not people. 

Red didn’t seem to have practised the move much though. His one-handed sloth grip wasn’t enough to support his weight In a panic reflex, he dropped the Quaffle as both his hands gripped his broom. 

The quaffle was behind and below me now and I was facing the wrong direction to catch it. I headed for it the fastest way I knew how. I pointed my broom straight towards the ground and then pushed it even further until I’d executed a half loop the loop and I was hanging upside down in a sloth grip similar to the one Red had just left. 

As soon as my broom was pointing towards the ball I went into a spiral dive. Twisting around and around as I built up speed and headed straight for the quaffle. 

I rotated back to upright just before I got to the quaffle and began hugging it in between my arm and torso. I could hear Levi and Robin cheering for me from above but I wasn’t done yet. Gaining possession of the ball wasn’t the hard part. Getting it past Nicole was. 

There were three hoops at the end of the quidditch pitch all at varying heights. The middle hoop was the tallest, the right hand was the shortest, and the left-hand one was in between the two heights. Nicole sat in the middle of the three hoops. She had positioned herself in a way that she had completely minimised the distance between herself and all the hoops but she wasn’t guarding just one. 

From what I’d heard about her I assumed she could move and block pretty quickly. My best bet was to move her in front of the wrong hoop.

I flew up to Levi and told him to get into position to shoot into the lowest hoop and I headed towards the right-hand hoop. We had to be fast, Red was coming up behind us and I needed Levi to stay open.

Only one person was allowed in the scoring area at a time. Levi rested his broom right against the boundary leaving me free to fly in. This was the tricky part, I threw the ball in front of me, enough for Nicole to see it leave my hand, enough for it to fly past the front of my broom even. She reacted quickly moving to the right hoop but as soon as she had started flying I spun my entire broom around and used the back of the handle to smack the quaffle as hard as I could in Levi’s direction. 

Before Nicole could change direction Levi was holding the ball, and I was speeding out of the scoring area so he could enter. 

He threw the ball, and it was heading for the post. It didn’t look like it would make it. The Quaffle was headed straight for the rim of the hoop. I was certain it would hit it and bounce off until right at the last second Nicole’s outstretched fingertips touched the side of the ball as she tried to block it.

She was a fraction of a second too late, instead of grabbing the ball she only nudged it on the side that pushed it right into the hoop. She’d overshot the goal, and we had scored. Robin and I cheered for Levi’s throw.

Ten points for my team. I couldn’t help myself, as Nicole came back into earshot I yelled, “Better luck next time.”

I’d turned around and headed back toward the centre of the field before I could see her reaction.

It turned out that Nicole did in fact, have better luck. She was a lot more careful after we scored the first goal. She blocked every other ball that came anywhere near her. I didn’t mind that she was kicking our butts as much anymore because my team was still ten points ahead and I feel like I showed her I had some skills with the fake shot. Levi may have been the one to throw the ball through the hoop but it was my setup that impressed her. Or at least I hope it did. 

The snitch wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Robin and Fish were still both circling the pitch looking for any sign of gold as Nicole threw the quaffle up for Levi and Red to chase after. Ever since we scored the first point she had made sure to get back to the post quickly instead of watching to see who got possession. Red and Levi were flying straight at the ball heading down towards the ground when suddenly Robin aimed for the exact same spot.

His dive was unbelievable. Red and Levi had started their dives long before him but he was gaining and gaining on them. I didn’t realise he was so good. He was going so fast. I had to squint to see that the snitch was just a few feet below the quaffle. Fish was nowhere near him and it looked like Robin was going to catch it.

He had one hand on his broom the other outstretched his weight so far forward it threatened to tip the whole broom. Before I knew it he levelled his broom out of the dive waving the snitch in the air as the quaffle hit the ground below and bounced back up into the air again. 

We had won, 160 - 0. If Nicole hadn’t been such a good keeper the score might have been very different. Red alone had had way more shots at the goal than us. It was just Nicole that kept him from scoring anything. She’d put in a lot of effort to make up for knocking the quaffle into the hoop. I didn’t mind though as it seriously benefited our team. 

All seven of us meet on the ground to congratulate Robin. We were out here so he could practise after all. Most of us weren’t Hufflepuffs but Robin was a good guy so we were all hoping he would get the position come trials. 

The game had gone on for so long that there were only 15 minutes left till the period ended. It was period five which meant that there wasn’t another class to go to, but because all the other students would roam the grounds before dinner most of the people who ditched class wanted to head back instead of risking getting discovered.

Doc, Red, Fish and Levi all headed to the changing rooms. Robin wanted to practise right up till dinner. I stayed with him. We were fine because we had gotten permission to be on the field and had a free period so couldn’t be called out for ditching. 

Robin asked Nicole if she could give him any tips and she volunteered to stay and help him improve his turns. After seeing her switch from post to post while doing an excellent job keeping I could tell she knew a thing or two about precise and time-efficient turns. 

Nicole and Robin flew up above the pitch while she gave him advice and I released the snitch from the ground when neither of them were looking.

I sat leaning against the bottom of one of the viewing towers and watched the pair circling above me. They made a good team. I could already see Robin’s speed and accuracy improving. I thought she must have told him to have a go catching the snitch and make those turns while scouting because she headed back down to the bottom of the pitch.

I’d been expecting her to go off to the changing rooms, but she started heading in my direction instead. As she approached, she took off her helmet first and then started working at the buckles holding her chest plate and shoulder pads on. She looked like she had completely exerted herself. She had been sweating and her number six uniform was now stuck closely hugging her skin. I could see the ripple of her abs through the folds of her close-fitting uniform. 

She got closer, and I said, “His turns are looking better already,” as she collapsed right next to me, her chest was dramatically rising and falling with each breath. “Yeah he learns quickly,” she replied while trying to steady her breathing. 

I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t even know why she was here. She could have sat anywhere else, so I figured she must have wanted to talk or she wouldn’t have avoided me. Maybe she just wanted to clear the air from our first encounter? 

Either way, I figured I needed to reply, so I went with a joke questioning why she was here when helping Robin didn’t seem to be in her best interests. I teased “I know all of Hufflepuff will appreciate your advice when we destroy Gryffindor during our first match this season.” 

“Hey! I’m always happy to help a friend, plus,” she added with a joking tone, “Robin is an excellence chaser, Gryffindor will thank me when they have to replace him with someone less experienced.”

I had to laugh, I knew she was joking, A team with an inexperienced chaser is far better off than a team with an inexperienced seeker and we had to get new team members anyway. That was assuming that Robin would get the position as well and there weren’t any good second-year students we didn’t know about.

We sat in silence for a moment before she added, “You know, you would make a pretty good inexperienced chaser.”

I found that one hilarious. I had no clue what her motive was before, but now? I was totally lost. I did not understand what this girl was doing, so I just chuckled and said, “I didn’t score once. I wouldn’t make a good chaser. I’d make you look like a better keeper.”

“All right fine,” she said laughing back, “you’d need a bit of training but I do mean it when I say you’d make a good chaser. That first goal you scored --”

“You mean the own goal you scored.”

“I may have accidentally pushed it in. but your setup was exceptional. The strategy was the kind of thing you’d expect from the Ravenclaw team and they almost won last year. I may have pushed the goal in, Levi may have thrown it, but it was your goal, Waverly. With a bit of practise you’re the kind of team player Hufflepuff could really benefit from.” Something about the way she was looking at me made me feel like she genuinely meant what she was saying.

“I guess it’s too bad that the trials for Hufflepuff are tomorrow then,” I replied. It felt like a lame answer but I still had no idea what Nicole had wanted me to say. She seemed genuine but at the same time she knows how clumsy I am, she saw that I couldn’t score against her. Maybe she just wanted me to try out cause she knew she could beat me. 

“I’m serious,” Nicole assured me, “I’ll be watching the Hufflepuff trials tomorrow. If you watch them too, I could give you some tips before breakfast, when the trials are over.”

At that moment Robin caught sight of the snitch. He pointed his broom right up and started climbing. I couldn’t see the snitch from down here but as Robin got faster and faster I was certain that he would catch it. I knew he had when he started flying around in loopty loops, what a show-off. He started heading towards the bottom of the pitch and Nicole stood up to go meet him saying, “I’m gonna go congratulate him and then take a shower, but I’m serious, bring a broom to the trials tomorrow if you want me to show you a thing or two.”

She walked away leaving me feeling more anxious than ever. If I didn’t turn up with a broom would she think I was being rude? Or was she just being nice and making conversation with no intention of actually going through with it? My head was spinning with possibilities. The trials were at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning and the sun would set soon, she hadn’t exactly given me much time to think about it and I’m a serious planner.

Robin walked over to come and get me, so I yelled out, “Think you’re ready for tomorrow?”

He cracked a massive grin and yelled back, “Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good about the trial. Plus Nicole gave me some good advice.”

He was close enough now that I didn’t have to yell, so I just told him that Nicole offered to give me some tips after the trials tomorrow. 

“Oh, she’s coming to that?” Robin replied, “I was kinda hoping she wouldn’t. Her first class is History of Magic and there is no way you can get through a class as boring as that if you’ve been up since 4 AM… Then again I guess she has to scout out the other teams being quidditch captain and all.”

“Wait, she’s quidditch captain too?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing… Well I mean she was a great player and pretty inspiring too, so I guess I could believe it but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t shocked to hear it. 

“Yeah, it’s her first year as the captain though. She’s got large shoes to fill cause Gryffindor won the cup under their last captain. She’s a genuine person though. I’d guess she wants to help you just to practise her leadership skills or whatever before she has to start training her own team. If you want to learn more about quidditch, I’d go for it. I think you two could get along quite well.”

I still wasn’t totally sure if I would go. I didn’t really see any harm in going but the thought still gave me butterflies. Plus I was still completely mortified from our first meeting. Maybe I could take the opportunity to make sure she remembers me as someone other than the loser who smashed into her on the first day back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I'm so sorry I didn't post this chapter last week. I thought I had but apparently I'm just dumb. I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow to make up for it!
> 
> Thanks for reading. Everyone that comments and leaves a kudos means a lot to me and inspires me. I see all of you!


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